Passing Your Due Date: Welcome To The Waiting Game

Due dates are such a tease. Whether it's your family, your friends, or even your smartphone apps, there's always someone or something counting down the days until your baby is "due." But what happens when your due dates comes and goes?

That's when you enter the unknown world of the "Waiting Game." In this world, everyday is like Groundhog Day, where you wake up expecting something eventful to happen, only to find that you're still pregnant. And quite possibly very uncomfortable. Every day, you receive phone calls, text messages, Facebook wall posts, and tweets asking if that baby has come out yet. Slowly, but surely, you feel your hormones raging as your sanity starts to wean.

How do you survive this Waiting Game?

Well, I'm trying to figure that out myself as I am 40 weeks and 3 days pregnant. As each minute passes, I discover a new way to keep my sanity and wait patiently for Baby L* to come out to say, "Hello, world!"

Here is what has worked so far:

1. Walk, walk, walk!

I've been attempting to walk this baby out of me as much as possible. Luckily for me, Southern California is experiencing another bout of mysterious summer weather and it's been at least 76 degrees outside near the beach. So for the past few days, my husband, my dog, and I have been walking the beach, the outdoor mall, and our neighborhood to not only induce labor (hopefully), but to also cherish these last few moments of living life as "just us."

2. Keep busy.

Some people might call it nesting. I consider it getting my mind off of the fact that I'm still pregnant. Whether it's cleaning the kitchen, sweeping the floors, or doing the laundry, it helps to keep my body and my mind as occupied as possible with things unrelated to pregnancy.

3. Put your phone on silent.

Those text messages and phone calls were starting to drive me insane! As much as I love my family, I just can't seem to find the patience to say over and over again that the baby hasn't come yet and that I'm still pregnant. It's not like I'd have the baby and not tell them anyway! So the way I see it, if I have to wait for this baby to come without any inkling or warning, then so can they. That means no replies to text messages and no answers to phone calls...unless I'm up for it, of course. But because so much of my patience is currently being taken up by baby watch, my family members just have to take a back seat.

4. Eat ice cream.

Or whatever you're craving. Who knows how much longer you can "get away" with submitting to these cravings? Might as well enjoy it while it lasts!

(Same thing applies with laziness. Sometimes nothing is more relaxing than a Law & Order marathon and a giant bowl of ice cream to make my day.)

5. Sleep when you can, as much as you can.

The #1 word of advice I've received throughout this entire pregnancy is to sleep now while I can. Earlier in my pregnancy, I'd just look at the advice-giving person with a smile then go about my way as I roll my eyes. But now that I'm very pregnant and very uncomfortable, I'm actually going to take this advice and run with it. My nights have been filled with trips to the bathroom and minutes of waking up just to change positions. Some nights, I've found myself awake for hours because no position can ease my comfort and the urge of another bathroom trip is just minutes away. So I have found myself achieving most of my sleep during the day, in between my bouts of cleaning and long walks. Sometimes my naps go for hours at a time, which I'm sure my dog doesn't mind one bit. For all I know, this may be a foreshadowing of what's to come.

What have you done to keep yourself sane these last few weeks or days of pregnancy?